UConn coach Jim Calhoun focused on the positive as Huskies prepare to defend national championship

Associated Press file photoConnecticut coach Jim Calhoun holds the net after his team beat Arizona 65-63 in the NCAA West regional college basketball championship game in Anaheim, Calif., in March.

By PAT EATON-ROBB
STORRS, Conn. — Jim Calhoun says he was once advised by legendary coach Al McGuire to walk away if he ever won a national championship.

The UConn coach has had that opportunity three times, including last summer, when many speculated the Hall-of-Famer might retire on the heels of his third title, which came after dealing with health issues, NCAA sanctions, and a poor Academic Performance Report.

But he says the idea never held any appeal for him.

"I don't necessarily think I have a job unfinished," Calhoun said this week. "But (UConn President) Susan (Herbst) certainly wanted me to come back. I like coaching basketball. Thank God I'm healthy and there's no reason for me not to want to continue to coach."

The 69-year-old Calhoun is entering his 40th season as a college coach and 26th at UConn, which he has built from an also-ran into a perennial national power, with three NCAA titles, 10 Big East regular season titles and seven conference tournament championships. Calhoun, who played his college basketball at American International College, also has sent 23 former Connecticut players to the NBA.

But Calhoun's image has taken a hit over the past few years. He will serve a three-game suspension at the start of Big East play for NCAA recruiting violations that found, among other things, that the coach had failed to maintain "an atmosphere of compliance."

The same violations cost UConn a scholarship this year, and the program lost another two because of a poor APR, something that could also keep the Huskies from playing in the 2013 NCAA tournament.

Calhoun also had a notoriously icy relationship with Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway.

Some may think those are several reasons that might have made retirement attractive, but Calhoun says none of the off-the-court issues ever affected his enthusiasm for the game.

"There is a wear-down effect sometimes about those things, so you can't wait to get out on the floor and coach basketball," he said.

And some of the issues have gone away. Calhoun, who has successfully battled skin and prostate cancer in recent years, said he's feeling great and is in good physical shape.

Hathaway retired in the summer after Herbst, the school's new president, ordered a review of his handling of the athletic department. The new interim athletic director, Paul Pendergast, is a friend.

Herbst and Calhoun, meanwhile, have become close, working together on a plan to improve the performance of his players in the classroom.

"I am very friendly with coach," she told the AP last week. "I respect him immensely. I see him often. I try to support his efforts with the players and especially with their academic performance."

"I don't see any signs of Jim slowing down," she added. "I think Jim is in terrific shape. He looks great. He's full of life and I haven't seen any slow times since I've come to know him. Since the winter I've just found him to be very high energy and very focused. So he's a real sort of effervescent force."

Calhoun acknowledges he felt a bit rejuvenated by the 11-0 run the Huskies made through the postseason. A lot of it, he said, was because it allowed him to focus on the game again.

"The key thing was, we were coaching basketball," he said. "We weren't worried about problems, staying fixed on the situation, and I think that's the key thing."

But George Blaney, Calhoun's top assistant and former head coach at Seton Hall and Holy Cross, said he thinks rejuvenated is the wrong word. He said he would have been shocked if Calhoun had retired.

"Rejuvenation is not a good word in my mind because to my mind it's a continuation," he said. "He hasn't changed since I first met him. Not in the basketball sense; he remains the same driven coach that he's always been."

Calhoun said one of the main reasons he decided to come back was the players. UConn returns four starters and six players who saw significant time during the title run. They also had one of the best recruiting classes in the nation, led by 6-foot-10 Andre Drummond, and are ranked No. 4 in the AP's preseason poll.

The team has a work ethic and an attitude that Calhoun said makes him want to teach.

"I enjoy coaching, if we do the best that we can, the team plays as well as we can," he said "And I think there are still a couple things undone here that I still want to do, which really aren't 100 percent national championship related ... I'm fortunate to do something that when I'm in that classroom, the basketball arena, that I feel really good about doing."

Forward Alex Oriakhi said he thought Calhoun might leave after last season but said the guys were all relieved he didn't.

"I figured, who wouldn't want to go out on top like that," he said. "But something else told me, you know playing for coach Calhoun for the past two years, I know one thing, that's that he's going to go till he can't go no more."